Acceptance
by Cyclone20
Summary: Even though Hiccup defeated the Red Death, he still doesn't believe that he's accepted on Berk. However, Astrid makes sure that Hiccup knows that he will always be accepted on Berk, regardless of who you are. HiccupXAstrid, One-Shot.


**Author's Note:**

What's up everyone? Welcome to my first ever one-shot for How To Train Your Dragon and this one will be based around Hiccup and Astrid so I hope that you all enjoy it!

How To Train Your Dragon is easily one of my favorite movies and I have watched every episode of Riders of Berk so I think I should have a pretty good grasp on the characters.

If anybody would like to beta read the story then that would be great since I would like it to be the best it can be!

Also if anybody here is a Pokémon fan then head over to my Profile Page and check out my big story Crossroads! I'm sure you will enjoy it as it has gotten a lot of positive feedback so far!

That should be about it so please enjoy everyone!

_Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. That is Dreamworks Property and I have no plans in the near future to start a campaign to buy Dreamworks._

* * *

**How To Train Your Dragon: Acceptance**

_This is Berk; it's been 3 months since Hiccup has defeated the Red Death and everything couldn't be better. Vikings and Dragons lived peacefully together as not master and pet per-say but friends that formed close bonds with each other. Hiccup's life couldn't really be any better as since his kiss with Astrid. After he woke up, they have been steadily dating and enjoying every minute of it. However; as of late there seemed to be an issue amiss which is where the story begins._

* * *

Hiccup was laying on his bed, looking directly at the ceiling. His thoughts, well… weren't really on anything other than what he had heard the other day from Astrid and Ruffnut as he had _accidentally _eaves dropped on their conversation.

* * *

_Flashback __Berk – Docks:_

Hiccup was on his way to the forge to do some work that Gobber had left for him since he and Stoick had left the island in order to set up a peace treaty with another tribe that was becoming quite hostile over that past month.

As Hiccup was walking he noticed his girlfriend and Ruffnut standing over by the docks, overlooking the workers as they brought in the daily fish haul. The pair looked as if they were engaging in conversation so Hiccup, being curious as ever, quietly sneaked over behind the closest houses to listen into their exchange.

"So how's Hiccup been lately?" Asked Ruffnut while looking at one of the boys who was hauling a net full of fish.

"Hiccup has been great! Honestly, I never expected him to act the way he does around me sometimes, it's like he can be a whole other person" replied Astrid as she looked on.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… I mean, it's like he knows me so well and all I did was ignore him for years. So when it's just us, it kinda feels like the person I'm with isn't really Hiccup."

"Ya I guess you're right, we all did make fun of him a lot" said Ruffnut while shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey! You all made fun of him, I on the other hand didn't say anything to him. All I'm saying is that I feel bad about not at least talking to him, and not getting to know him at all over the past couple of years."

"Still Astrid, why didn't you go for one of those buff boys working the docks or something like that? I mean besides myself of course, you're basically the hottest teen girl on the island and besides, don't you want a big buff guys like one of them?"

"I mean when you put it that way I guess… I mean when I look at Hiccup he could use a bit more muscle…" answered Astrid.

"I'm just saying Astrid that even though Hiccup is Mr. Dragon Rider, you could still do better."

That was when Hiccup left the side of the building and headed towards the forge, not really believing that Astrid was second guessing dating him. The reddish-brown haired teen simply trudged towards his destination to try to take his mind off what he had just heard.

* * *

_End Flashback:_

"I mean, what do I do bud?" asked Hiccup who looked up from hid bed to see the black Night Fury looking at him in question.

Instead of giving an answer Toothless simply shrugged its shoulder and grunting an "I don't know, I'm a dragon not a love guru" response before turning away from the confused teen and going back to sleep.

"Thanks for the help, you useless reptile" said Hiccup sarcastically as he got up from his bed and began to pace around his room.

"Hmmm…I guess I could go work at the docks maybe that will show Astrid that I'm at least trying to 'get a little more muscle'."

Upon hearing that the Night Fury lifted his head and gave Hiccup a look which basically said "are you crazy? You won't last a day if you go work there."

"Well what do you want me do to then bud? I mean Astrid is the type of girl who wants results and for all I know is probably embarrassed to be dating a skin and bones guy like me."

Toothless just put his head back on his bed and decided to give up, knowing that Hiccup had his mind-set on this now as the dragon grunted again which meant "do whatever you want then. If you want to go work at the docks then it's your own funeral."

"Ohhh, just you watch bud. Those docks won't be able to handle all of this for very long, I'll show Astrid and Ruffnut exactly how much muscle I still have to gain" said Hiccup while gesturing to himself.

Toothless laughed at the idea of Hiccup showing the docks whose boss with all of 'him' so he got up and gently pushed the dragon rider out the door before retreating back to his bed where he peacefully went back to sleep.

* * *

Unfortunately for Hiccup today at the docks was one of the biggest fishing days of the year as the summer was just ending which meant that the Berkians needed to store as much food as possible for the cold winter.

Today, Mulch was directing the situation as Vikings young and old alike where hauling the big fishing nets all the way up to the Great Hall for storage. When Hiccup asked Mulch if he could help out today he was taken aback at the dragon rider's forwardness with wanting to help with such a 'heavy' project.

"Are you sure that you're up for this Hiccup? Hauling this much fish can really put a toll on ya and besides, aren't a still healing up that leg of yours?" asked Mulch curiously as he examined Hiccup's prosthetic leg.

"Oh don't you worry about a thing Mulch, my leg is perfectly fine and I know that today is a big day with that haul so where can I help out?"

Mulch sighed in defeat as he wasn't going to say no to the person that basically saved everyone's lives from the Red Death, even if he did suffer a severe injury during the battle.

"Alright fine Hiccup; you can go help Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs over there. Just follow what they are doing, but please take care of yourself. The last thing I need is when Stoick gets back, he hears that you hurt yourself even worse than before with who knows what."

"Ok, I got it, thanks Mulch!" said Hiccup as he ran over to the other male teens to help out with the haul.

"Oh… what have I done…" said Mulch as he turned back around to direct the other shipments that were coming in.

As Hiccup approached the teens he his cousin say "Oh no, why are you here for this?"

"Actually Snotlout, I'm here to help with the haul, I figured that you guys could use my help" replied Hiccup matter a factly.

"Umm, no offense Hiccup, but this isn't exactly the kind of work that is well… best suited for you. Especially in your current condition" said Fishlegs as he tried to dodge around Hiccup's issue.

"Ya, like I doubt he could even carry one bag of fish from the bottom of the docks all the way up to the Great Hall" said Tuffnut as he picked up a bag of fish and hauled it over his shoulder.

Snotlout, who didn't want to be bested by anyone, picked up two bags of fish and began to run up the wooden staircase towards the Great Hall.

"Sorry Hiccup, but I'm kinda with them on this one" said Fishlegs apologetically as he picked of a bag of fish himself and began to walk up the wooden staircase himself.

Hiccup looked up the retreating trio of teens and then towards the bags of fish that were being unloaded onto the shore and said to himself "I'll show them, I won't slow them down."

Hiccup then moved to pick up a bag of fish and when he tried to haul it up to his shoulders he found that the bag wasn't moving. He tried again to lift the bag but was only successful at lifting it slightly as it proved too heavy for the reddish-brown haired teen.

Hiccup gave it one last shot as he put his whole back into lifting the bag of fish onto his shoulder. After a minute of agonizing lifting, Hiccup had managed to lift the bag of fish onto his shoulder and was now slowly walking towards the steps.

On his way there Snotlout, Tuffnut and Fishlegs raced by him with Snotlout and Tuffnut throwing remarks at him which were like "looking good their cuz" or "Ya! Hiccup you're moving like how fast Thor ummm shoots lighting from his ummm hammer… thing!"

"Maybe I should have listened to Toothless about this by funeral…" Hiccup groaned as he knew that this was going to be a long day ahead of him.

* * *

Astrid and Ruffnut sat on the ledge overlooking the docks once again as Ruffnut was looking for the guy she saw the other day and Astrid was just kinda dragged here, as the blond-haired teen didn't really have much else to do other than throw her axe mindlessly at a tree.

As Ruffnut looked around she noticed a figure moving much slower than the other Vikings. She looked closer and noticed that it was indeed Astrid boyfriend as she elbowed Astrid on the arm and said "hey, look who it is down there. I never thought I would have seen him doing this kind of work before."

Astrid looked to where Ruffnut motioned towards to see shockingly that her boyfriend was attempting to carry a bag of fish that looked to be even bigger them himself.

"What in the world does he think he's doing down there?" asked Astrid in a more angry voice then anything as she immediately thought of Hiccup's prosthetic leg.

"Hmph, I don't know, he's your boyfriend, and I don't keep track of him. Besides it's Hiccup, nobody really knows what goes on inside of that head of his."

"Yeah but still; Hiccup shouldn't be doing something like this, he could really hurt himself!"

"Well why don't you go talk to him about it then if you're so concerned?" asked Ruffnut but Astrid didn't need anyone to tell her what to do as she already got to her feet and headed towards her dragon rider of a boyfriend.

* * *

As Hiccup reached the top of the wooden staircase he found his blond-haired girlfriend waiting for him with a naturally angry look on her face as she almost yelled at him by saying "what in Thor's name, do you think you're doing Hiccup!? You could really hurt yourself by working like this!"

Hiccup looked up at her, once again remembering the conversation from the other day and replied "oh you know… just trying to get some more muscle."

"Get more muscle? Why would you want to do that?"

"Well based on the conversation that I heard the other day, I figured that me having some more muscle was what you wanted."

Astrid's eyes widened as she realized where this was coming from and said "first off Hiccup, I don't know why you are listening into my conversations, and two, that wasn't what I meant by that!"

"Well it sure sounded like that was what you wanted so if you excuse me I have work to do" said Hiccup as he brushed past her and continued his slow trek to the Great Hall.

Astrid was about to pull him back and punch him across the face for brushing her off like that but her better judgment got a hold of her so she decided to wait the day out, then she would make her move

The day passed slowly, more slowly than almost any other day Hiccup could remember as it was filled with doing the same thing over and over. He would go back and forth, bringing bag after bag of fish all the way up the wooden steps of the docks, through the town square, and up the stair of the Great Hall where another Viking would take the bag into the Hall.

Once the day had finally concluded, all the fish had been brought up from the docks and the Great Hall was the place where a mini celebration was being held for a job well done.

Also the fact that Vikings just like to party and have a good time as well came into account as nearly the entire village showed up for another night of festivities.

However; two Vikings were missing from the mob as Hiccup had gone back to the forge to rest his tired bones and naturally his girlfriend had followed him there to get a solid answer out of him from before.

Hiccup heard a knock on his office door and wondered who it could be as he opened the door and was met with a hard punch to the shoulder as he cried out "Ouch! Astrid what the hell?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your sore muscles? Well do bad, because that's what you get for brushing me off like you did earlier today!"

Hiccup sat down on his work bench and sighed tiredly as he just said "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to do that."

Upon hearing Hiccup's apology, Astrid face softened as she knew that he was probably just confused as she said "Well… are you going to tell me what your problem is today?"

Hiccup looked up and said "look Astrid, I obvious overheard you and Ruffnut talking about how you could do better than me so I just wanted to get stronger so you would accept me as your boyfriend. The last thing that I want is for you to be embarrassed dating me because if that's the way you feel then you don't have to just because I killed some stupid big dragon."

Astrid did a small facepalm as she realized that Hiccup must not have heard what she said after Ruffnut commented about how she could do better and said "Oh Hiccup… I'm sorry about what you heard but it sounds like you didn't hear the rest of the conversation.'

"The rest of the conversation?"

"Yes Hiccup, after Ruffnut said that I could do better I said-"

* * *

_Continue Flashback:_

"I'm just saying Astrid that even though Hiccup is Mr. Dragon Rider, you could still do better" said Ruffnut matter a factly.

"No, I don't think that I could do any better than I am now" said Astrid with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… even though Hiccup isn't as muscular as all the other Vikings, that's not what I care about because if he was then Hiccup would just be another prototypical dumb Viking. That's not Hiccup; Hiccup is a person that has just as much courage as anybody I know, is smarter than anybody I know, and to be honest is a person that I don't know how I lived without for this many years."

"Wow… that's pretty deep… so UN Astrid-like."

"Look, all I'm saying is that if Hiccup was like all those other Vikings then he wouldn't be well… Hiccup. It's what makes him unique is the thing that I love about him and I know that he is the kind of person that would never hurt me or leave me, no matter how bad things got."

"So you're basically saying that you're in love with him" stated Ruffnut.

This caused a big blush to come onto Astrid face as she looked down and twirled her thumbs before snapping out of the state that Ruffnut put her in and said "You better not tell anyone! Because if you do, the tree that I throw my axe on will become your face!"

Despite Astrid death threat Ruffnut didn't even seem fazed as she replied "Oh don't you worry about it, I won't tell anybody. Just know though that if you don't tell him soon then a small little rumor might start spreading around the village pretty quick there missy."

Ruffnut then jumped to her feet and ran off as Astrid ran after her with her axe in hand, ready to make sure that her secret stayed just between them.

* * *

_End Flashback:_

"Oh… ya… sorry…" was all Hiccup could really say as Astrid recounted the story for him so Hiccup could see that had acted like a big idiot all day as well as did all that fishing work for nothing.

After a few moments of silence between the pair Hiccup asked "So… you love me then?" who now with a small smile on his face, knowing that would put Astrid in a delicate position.

Astrid indeed was put into that spot as an uncharacteristic blush formed on her face as she looked away from the teen dragon rider and said "possibly…"

Hiccup laughed and stood up to wrap his arms around the blonde Valkyrie while saying "well I guess if it accounts for anything, I love you too Astrid."

Astrid turned to him and smiled before wrapping her arms around his neck while saying "I'm sorry for saying that stuff about you and just in general, I'm sorry about the way that I treated you over the past couple of years."

Hiccup brought one of his hands up and tilted her chin so her he could see her eyes and said "Astrid I have always forgiven you. You had plenty of chances you join in on what the rest of them were saying, (besides Fishlegs that is) but you didn't. I haven't ever held anything against you what happened back then but who cares about back then. The point is that here and now I love you and that's all that matters.

Astrid nodded before reaching up to kiss him passionately as she pulled him as close to her as possible, completely savoring the sweet taste of the kiss between them. Hiccup felt the same way as he responded to the kiss whole heartedly and nibble on Astrid bottom lip which caused her to moan slightly and open her mouth where Hiccup dove his tongue into her mouth to engage her own.

Astrid jumped slight from the sudden initiation that Hiccup took in kissing her but found it very pleasing as it turned her on from the fact that Hiccup was taking control of their physical relationship. Astrid responded by eagerly by engaging in a tongue war if you will which continued for a couple of minutes before the pair finally broke and leaned their foreheads against each other.

"Hiccup… just know that you will always be accepted by me. I will never let what happened in the past repeat itself so you don't have to feel any more pain."

"Thank you Astrid" was all Hiccup could say as he looked deep within her ocean blue eyes before Astrid got a big smirk on her face and pull back from Hiccup slightly so she could punch him in the arm.

"Ouch! Why would you do that, and now of all time too?"

"That was for the sappy speech earlier."

Hiccup put his hands up in confusion and was about to say something else but Astrid swooped back in and gave him another kiss on the lips before pulling back and saying her catchphrase "and that, was for everything else."

Hiccup just gave her a goofy grin that she loved so much as she moved forward and took his hand while saying "come on! Let's go to the Great Hall and join the party!"

Hiccup snapped out of his trance-like state and caught up to his girlfriend to intertwine their fingers as the pair walked towards the Great Hall to which would surely be a great night.

_This is Berk; killing a dragon used to be everything around here and killing a dragon could lift someone up from being a loser to becoming a lord. Even after killing the mightiest of them all, I was still renowned for being physically weak. However; being physically weak and having no courage to step up in the big moment are two totally different things. I learnt that thanks to my best friend. Although the best lesion that I ever could have learnt was to never change who you are. You can grow to become a better person but in the end, be happy with the person that you are and don't let anyone else tell you any different because once everything is set and done you will become a happier person then you ever could have been before._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I hope that you all enjoyed my first ever one-shot because I sure enjoyed writing it for all of you!

I also hope that it inspires you to never change who you are and to stay true to yourself which I think is the best thing you can do. Just because somebody think that something you like is weird because they don't like it, who cares what they think. Don't change for other people, but instead live your life the best way that you can which I think is the message of this story personally.

Otherwise; if you enjoyed this story then please check out my Profile Page and read my other story Crossroads which is 57,000 plus words in.

That's all everyone! So I hope you enjoyed reading this and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


End file.
